


On the run

by Polarnacht



Series: Colorblind [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alpha Alec Lightwood, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Jace Wayland-centric, M/M, Omega Jace Wayland, True Love, True Mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:21:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22647835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Polarnacht/pseuds/Polarnacht
Summary: Each Shadowhunter is born with a second gender – Alpha, Beta and Omega. Usually, Alphas were strong warriors, leaders within their family or clan. Omegas were considered to be weak, more a thing rather than a human. Omegas belonged to their Alpha, first to their parents and later to the mated Alpha. There was no law, which protected the Omegas from abuse. There was one destined mate for each Shadowhunter, but not everyone met his mate in their lifetimes – Shadowhunter lives being often rather short. Therefore not everyone waited to find their true mate but settled for someone else. Every Shadowhunter was born with a lack of color – the color of the eyes of his mate. Only upon the touch – or the death - of the true one, the color would become visible.When Jace presents unexpectedly as an Omega at the age of 14, he decides to leave his abusive home and run away, to live in the mundane world to hide from his father. What happens when he accidently meets his true Alpha mate?
Relationships: Alec Lightwood/Jace Wayland
Series: Colorblind [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591045
Comments: 8
Kudos: 87





	On the run

Each Shadowhunter was born with a second gender – Alpha, Beta and Omega. Usually, Alphas were strong warriors, leaders within their family or clan. Omegas were considered to be weak, more a thing rather than a human. Omegas belonged to their Alpha, first to their parents and later to the mated Alpha. There was no law, which protected the Omegas from abuse. There was one destined mate for each Shadowhunter, but not everyone met his mate in their lifetimes – Shadowhunter lives being often rather short. Therefore not everyone waited to find their true mate but settled for someone else. Every Shadowhunter was born with a lack of color – the color of the eyes of his mate. Only upon the touch – or the death - of the true one, the color would become visible.

Jonathan Wayland was raised by his abusive father Michael, a brutal and narrow-minded man. Only his opinion mattered, and he made sure to beat his view of things into his son – with not much success, but this was not due to the lack of trying. He expected perfection, each mistake made by the young boy punished severely. Jonathan couldn’t count the times he had been beaten, whipped or starved. Perfection included being an Alpha, of course. In Michael’s opinion, an Omega, especially a male one, was a disgrace. He held on to the custom that an Omega was not a being but more a thing which belonged to someone and was passed on, sold or thrown away. Jace hated his father. So when the boy turned 14 and presented – very unexpectedly – as an Omega, Jonathan knew what he had do to. He needed to run. He packed his few belongings, thanking the Angel that his father was not present when he presented, took all things of value available in the house and ran to never look back.

He knew that he had no place in the Shadow World, even though his skills were exceptional. He had pure Angel blood, thanks to the experiments his father had done on his mother before Jace was even born. But Jace knew that if a Shadowhunter would find him they would return him to his father – being underage and an unmated Omega. It wouldn’t matter what his father did or had done to him, technically he belonged to Michael and his father could handle him however he deemed fit. But Jace was done belonging. So he went into hiding. He sold everything he had to get fake mundane IDs, instead of Jonathan Wayland he was now Christopher Morgenstern, an orphan and a new citizen of L.A., far away from the Shadowhunter home country Idris, where he had been born and raised.

Among the mundanes, he felt save. Thanks to his angel blood, he was able to glamour his runes, even other magical beings like warlocks or fellow Shadowhunters were not able to see them. His angel blood also prevented him from any tracking a warlock or Shadowhunter could try to do via magic or runes. The heats, which came with his status as an Omega, were a problem. Once every three months, he went into a state of horniness, combined with a severe pain all over his body, an itching under his skin he could not describe. As if he needed someone to touch him, to tear him apart. As if he were the bitch the Shadow World wanted him to believe every Omega was. But Jace was not only done with belonging, he was also done with believing. The mundanes did quite well without a second gender and all the crap it brought along with it, and so would he. He discovered that girls and women suffered something similar (minus the horniness and some other stuff) once a month, called menstruation – and there were pills for it to suppress it and deal with it. What worked for mundanes should work for Shadowhunters, so he went to the L.A. Shadowmarket, where all sorts of magical beings met. Warlocks, vampires, seelies, werewolves gathered together, and a lot – if not most – doing shady business. It took him a while but he discovered a warlock selling heat suppressing pills. Of course the pills were prohibited by the Clave, how dare an Omega take control over his own body. The pills were expensive, but worth it. Once this issue was under control, Jace really enjoyed living as a mundane.

He was first shocked and then amazed that his new foster parents would not beat the hell out of him only because he did something wrong or did something different than they would have done it. He was stunned to learn that it even was forbidden by law. Interesting how a supposed inferior society had the higher morals, he thought, comparing the mundane world to the Shadow World.

He had to deal with Highschool though – but it turned out to be not a problem at all. Through all his training Jace was amazing in nearly every sport, even without using any of his runes, which he considered cheating. His good looks and general smarts, combined with a certain cockiness and attitude made him one of the most popular students in no time. There was also no lack of potential girlfriends or boyfriends, a lot seemed eager to be together with him. He liked it, he liked it a lot.

On the line he learned that the mundane world was not perfect either. It had never occurred to him that homosexuality could be something people frowned upon, as in the Shadow World only the second gender mattered, never the first. No one would skip a beat if a male dated a male, only if an Alpha dared to take an interest in an Alpha or – the Angel forbid – an Omega in an Omega.

So Christopher’s new world was not perfect but so much better than his previous one. He had no inclination or whatsoever to return to the Shadow World, except for his regular visits to the Shadowmarket to buy his pills. To keep fit he engaged in all sorts of sport, mostly he liked MMA, boxing, and, of course, football, which brought him a scholarship for the USC, which he gladly took. His foster parents were rather old and he liked to keep close. Sadly his foster parents passed away rather soon during his first year in college. First his mom died, she had breast cancer and soon his father– his real father, even if not by blood but by everything else – died too, Christopher was sure it was from a broken heart.

When Jonathan had become Christopher, he had made himself slightly older. So whereas his friends were 19, he was 17. Technically none of them was allowed to be in the night club they were in, but a technicality could not stop a boy who had a valid fake ID since he turned 14. After this night, he wished he had submitted to the technicality. He and his friends had fun, it was end of the first college semester, they were drinking and enjoying the music and Christopher was very busy seducing a pretty blonde girl he had laid eyes on from the start of college. He was so distracted he didn’t realize that Shadowhunters had entered the club: A hot brunette with long wavy hair, wearing a short leather dress and impressive high heels. A blonde petite Shadowhunter whose pointy ears revealed her seelie blood, who had only eyes for her girlfriend, an Asian looking girl with shiny black hair. And a tall, lean Shadowhunter with a grumpy expression on his face, as if he had been dragged there rather than coming voluntarily to enjoy the music.

But all this was lost on Christopher, who just wanted to impress the blonde girl and ordered drinks. When he got them he turned around and accidently bumped into the tall Shadowhunter, spilling his drinks all over their leather jackets. Christopher looked up and locked eyes with the raven haired boy – and froze when the boy’s grey eyes turned into hazel brown. The other looked at him with probably the same shocked and silly expression on his face. Shit, the Shadowhunter surely had recognized him as well, Christopher thought. His true mate chosen by fate. Fuck fate, Christopher was also totally done with fate, a fate who had not only given him Michael as his father but also the Omega gender.

So Christopher made his decision in a split second: he ran again. He activated every rune he had and sprinted to the exit, not looking back once. When he hit his apartment, he grabbed his emergency duffle back, which he always had ready: money, clothes and another fake ID. Christopher shed again his skin and became another person, the third in his lifetime – and hopefully the last. He was Jace Herondale now.

Jace Herondale would certainly not let another Shadowhunter, an Alpha as his senses had registered at once, possess him as if he was just an animal or a thing. He belonged to no one but himself, fate or not. Therefore he fled the city, again to never come back. He went to New York, a city where so many people hid from their past, one more wouldn’t matter. It would take him a bit to get a fake scholarship for a college so first he settled with a normal job. It sucked, it sucked that he had been forced to leave everything behind, his friends, his education but Jace was many things, among them very capable in adapting.

It also sucked that he had to find a new supply for his pills. He had some left but he knew he had to find a new source fast. He trailed every Downworlder he could find and after his patience had been taunted a lot, he got lucky. One werewolf led him to the New York Shadowmarket. At the beginning it was not easy, mundanes with the sight – and this was his cover story - were not trusted easily. Plus he wanted to avoid the question why a mundane needed heat-suppressing-pills. So first he just observed and watched, bought other stuff here and there, so that the Downworlders got used to his face. In the end, his patience was rewarded, a warlock seemed to sell what he needed. He approached the stand and bought some, not too many to not cause attention.

Unfortunately, after that he run out of luck. On his way out, he felt a firm grip on his shoulder, which made him jerk around. He looked at the same hazel eyes he had flown from in L.A. This was just his luck, Jace thought. Before he could run again, the dark Alpha voice of the other made him stop. Jace hated how his body responded. He knew that he could overrule his body instincts with time, but for now his body was in control and not his mind. So he stayed put. The Alpha before him blushed and to Jace’s utmost surprise he apologized to him.

“I’m sorry I used my Alpha voice on you. But last time you ran so fast that I could not speak to you. I’m Alec” the older boy offered. Jace just glared at him, his mouth pressed in a thin line. The Alpha ruffled through his hair, which was already a mess. “You know what we are, don’t you. I don’t have any idea how a mundane with the sight can be my mate, but apparently you are. I’m Alec.”

“You said that already” Jace huffed, continuing to glare at the other. There was no way he would let himself be talked into something. Jace was fully aware that he was trapped, at least temporarily. If the other used his Alpha voice again he might even follow him, the pull of his Alphaness was way stronger than anything Jace had experienced before, most probably because the boy was his fated mate and he seemed to be powerful in general.

“Look, I get that you are not thrilled to see me, I don’t know why but ok. Here is my number, so in case you need something or change your mind, call me. I mean it. And I’m really sorry for the Alpha behavior, that is normally not my thing. You can also just ask for the Lightwoods, we are known here.”

Reluctantly Jace took the paper the Alpha hold out. Great, a Lightwood. Of course he knew who the Lightwoods were, a powerful Shadowhunter family, but not only that but the Lightwoods currently ran the New York Institute. Great.

He was not sure why, but he saved the number the Alpha – Alec – had given him. Even though he didn’t believe in fate, he couldn’t bring himself to throw away it, not planning to ever use it though.

***

The other boy had caught him off guard and as much as he hated it, the other had impressed him. His hazel eyes had been so warm and his lips seemed so soft… Jace groaned. He really had to stop thinking like that, he had no idea why he had these thoughts now– the dreams he ignored deliberately – he had never been overly emotional.

He even went back to the Shadowmarket to accidentally meet the other again. He had nearly entered the market when a wave of nausea hit him, his body temperature suddenly increasing rapidly. He couldn’t believe how stupid he had been. As he had always taken his pills, he had ignored, or rather never registered, the signs of a heat. His restlessness, the way his skin itched, his thoughts – the fucking dreams – all signs of a soon approaching heat. The asshole of a warlock must have sold him fake suppressors. As his last heat was a long time ago, he knew it would be bad. The longer the time in between, the more forceful the heat. He gritted his teeth. There was no way in hell he would make it back to his apartment before the full outbreak. At least he had not entered the market yet, as he was sure that others could already smell him. And he knew what this meant. There were enough Alphas who thought that an unmated Omega in heat was fair game, that they could do whatever they wanted with the Omega. And they always got away with it, no law was on the side of the Omega. Soon his pheromones would be strong enough to attract every Alpha on the damn market. Jace was screwed, figuratively and soon literally if he didn’t do anything. His hands were shaking as another wave of nausea hit him, he was sweating like he had run for ages. With trembling fingers he dialed the number of Alec, the only person who he thought could help now.

“Alec. It’s me.” he managed to stutter when the Alpha picked up his phone. A short silence.

“Is this you like in my fated Omega you? You know it would be easier if you gave me your name.”

“I need help” Jace interrupted him, not listening what the other was bubbling. The urgency seemed to radiate through the phone.

“Where are you? I can be there in a minute. I’ll find a portal.”

Jace managed to say the name of the street he was in, needing to lean against a wall. He hoped Alec would hurry up, a portal sounded good. He was barely able to stand, let alone walk. Normally you should taper the suppressors gradually to make the transition into heat easier, but of course the fake pills didn’t allow for that. Asshole, he thought again. Jace was really not looking for trouble, but it seemed that trouble often found him, this time in the form of two approaching Alphas, a werewolf and a Shadowhunter.

“Look what we have here. I thought I could smell a bitch in heat. And look how needy he already is. You will be a good slut for us, won’t you.”

Jace straightened up, activating his runes without thinking. He sure was screwed, but he would not go down without a fight. He had always been conscious enough in his few heats he had had to know that he didn’t want to be fucked by a random guy and this would not change. Not now, not ever. But he couldn’t deny the relieve when a portal opened right next to him and Alec and the beautiful brunette girl from the L.A. club appeared. “Back off” the growl from the Alpha was deep and threatening. The girl had a silver whip in her hand, clearly ready to make good use of it. But the two other Alphas knew when they had lost, the two Shadowhunters were way too powerful for them. Alec looked – and smelled - once at Jace to see what was wrong with the blond. He hold out his hand and dragged Jace with him, through the portal. “Come on, before others arrive.”

The portal let them to an unoccupied room in the Institute. Jace’s state had gotten worse, the nausea nearly unbearable. And he was so hot, the itch of his body drove him crazy. Alec’s touch on his arm had felt really good and soothing, but the Alpha kept now his distance, as soon as they were save in the Institute. “Leave me alone” Jace managed to growl before collapsing on the bed. He needed to touch himself, needed the ache to go away or at least lessen but he wanted to be alone for it, even though the intriguing smell of the Alpha was still tempting and his skin where he had touched him felt less sore then every other part of his body.

He felt relieve when he heard the door open and close, both Lightwoods gone. But the relieve was only short. As soon as Alec had left the room and his scent faded away, Jace felt his whole body constrict in pain. No heat had ever felt so bad, not even his first one. He couldn’t help but scream, he felt his body light up with the attempt to comfort itself. But is was in vain. Jace thought he couldn’t breathe, he was choking on his own breathes, before suddenly he felt two strong arms wrapping around him. “Sh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. Izzy thinks that my presence can help you. That your heat is that bad now because we were briefly together and then I left. I can stay if you want. I will only hold you, I promise. Do you want me to stay?” As much as Jace hated it, the presence of the Alpha immediately helped. He had just a faint idea who that Izzy was, but it seemed she knew what she was talking about, so he just nodded.

To say that the situation was awkward was an understatement. Jace had never been using toys or anything like that, but sure he had jerked himself of in heats. He surely couldn’t do this when another boy was lying next to him, but he really needed the release. So each time he went to the bathroom, glad that the room had one, he felt embarrassed because he was aware that Alec knew what he was doing there. He knew that the Alpha could smell it. Oh, Jace hated biology. But to be fair, the Alpha did nothing but cuddle him. Whenever he came from the bathroom he saw Alec taking in a shaky breath and clench his fists as to keep his composure in place, but he never tried to do anything else and Jace was sure that he would have left if he asked him to. But Jace didn’t.

He had to admit that it felt nice to be hold like this, the soft touches soothing his itching skin, the burn inside him calming down more with every new skin-to-skin contact. Jace had always been touch-starved, the only physical contact Jace had gotten from his biological father had been beatings with the hand on his bare ass and back. His foster parents had been loving and kind, but they had not been coddlers either. He had tried to fill the emptiness in side of him with random boys and girls, but it had never been enough, something had always been missing. So he had went to the next person, hoping that they could give him what he needed. Laying surrounded by Alec’s strong arms, inhaling his delicious scent and feeling his heart beating in sync with his own, he suddenly felt whole. Complete. He shook his head as to chase off these feelings, they were dangerous. They were dangerous because he was an Omega and Omegas meant nothing in the Shadow World.

Finally, after 5 days, his heat was over. The whole room reeked of him, of sex, sweat and need. It was disgusting, at least Jace thought so. He fled into the shower, trying to scrub himself clean of his scent, trying to scrub away the past five days together with the feelings of want and safety. When he emerged, his usual cocky grin plastered to his face, Alec was sitting awkwardly on the bed. He was fully dressed and he was fidgeting with his Stele. The Alpha clearly was nervous.

When their gaze met, Jace nearly lost himself in the depth of Alec’s hazel eyes, he had to swallow hard. In the shower, he had made a decision. Even though every fiber of his body wanted to trust the Alpha in front of him, his brain reminded him of the brutal facts. He was an Omega, and if he gave in, he would belong to the boy in front of him. The boy could treat him like his father had, and no one would give a damn about it. He had sworn to himself that he would not let this happen anymore. Not if he was able to prevent it. So instead of sitting down next to Alec, he leaned in the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest and glared at the brunette. “What know?” he asked, trying to sound as harsh as possible. Alec was clearly taken aback by his hostility.

“Uh, I don’t know? I thought we could get to know each other. We are fated to each other and surly you must have felt some kind of connection? We belong to each other.” His voice was raspy with emotion.

Jace needed all his willpower to not agree to it, but the fear of being trapped too big, the consequences of belonging to someone too severely beaten into his body and mind.

“I belong to nobody but me. I will not let biology determine me. I felt nothing special for you, this was just my heat. I will certainly not give myself to you and let you reign over me, control me as you please. I am not the Omega you are looking for, I am not even a Shadowhunter” Jace lied.

Alec shook his head. “I’ve seen your runes, Jace. I know that you are a Shadowhunter, even though you are special in a way I don’t understand. And I know you are my Omega. When we bumped into each other I’ve seen the colors gold and blue for the first time. And I’m sure you’ve seen brown for the first time. I have no idea what I did that you don’t even consider getting to know me. What is so disgusting about me that you throw me away just like that.” Hurt was flashing over Alec’s face, while he stared at the blond, hoping the other would give in.

Jace bit his lower lip, he could see the distress the other was in, fuck, he could even smell it. But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.

“I don’t need an Alpha, certainly not you. What do you want with me anyway? Possess me like an animal?”

Alec’s lips pressed into a thin line. “If you think that I’m this kind of a man, after all what I’ve done so far, then there really is no use in us talking. I suppose you find the way out. And the next time you need help: don’t bother calling me.” He sprang off the bed, reaching the door and was out in a second, without glancing back at the blond. Jace should feel relieved; this was the outcome he had been hoping for. So why didn’t he?

***

Jace couldn’t sleep. He just couldn’t forget the hurt in Alec’s eyes and the self-loathing in his voice and words when he had turned him briskly down. He knew he had wronged the other, that Alec deserved at least a proper explanation.

After he had come home from the Institute, he had deleted the Alpha’s number, in a futile attempt to forget the other. If the other had been a dumb knothead, everything could have been so much easier, but he hadn’t. He still dreamed about the other. When he was awake, he was mostly able to keep his thoughts in check, but when he was sleeping, his mind kept circling back to the days and nights they had spent together, the feeling of security, of _home_ he had felt. Had his decision to run again be the right one? Suddenly, he realized that he was done running. ‘

It was the middle of the night, but Jace didn’t care. This time was as good as any, as he couldn’t just march into the Institute and demand to speak to Alec. Well, maybe he could, but he sure was not going to do that. He wanted to catch the Alpha alone. He figured that night might even be better, as demon patrols usually took place then and maybe he got lucky and the other would return from a hunt.

He found a bench close to the old church, which was the glamoured entrance to the Institute. It was freezing, but he didn’t really notice. He was nervous, he wouldn’t blame the other if he just walked away. And, a tiny bit of him was still weary, what if he misjudged the other? What if mating would just lead him into his next prison?

But this part of him shut up the moment he saw Alec. He felt the pull in his bones, the pull of an invisible bond, which yet had to be made but was there nevertheless. Alec limbed a bit and he was covered in ichor and bruises, so was the brunette which accompanied him, Izzy, as Jace figured.

Jace wanted to say something, but even before he could rise his voice, Alec’s head snapped around and he looked directly into his eyes. Jace couldn’t quite decipher the expression in them. Alec said something quietly to the girl and she just smiled and waved at Jace before she vanished into the Institute. Alec limped over to him, sitting next to Jace but leaving space between them. Too much space for Jace’s liking.

“What do you want? Found another insult to throw at me?”

Jace squirmed in his place. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I came here to thank you for your help. And to apologize. I acted like a jerk. And if the offer still stands, I want to get to know you.”

“What changed your mind?” the raven boy was not convinced yet, even though Jace noticed that the rigid tension in his shoulders had eased a little.

Jace sighed. “It’s kind of a long story.”

The other was not impressed. “I’ve got time.” Jace saw the other flinch, pain flashing briefly over his face. Without thinking, he reached over to the Alpha and touched him, closing his eyes in concentration. Alec gave a little gasp when he felt his Iratze rune activate. Jace smiled at him shyly, he had never done this before, frankly he hadn’t been aware that he could do it. Before he could withdraw his hand, Alec covered it with his, using it to draw the Omega closer. Jace could feel the heat radiating from the other boy. “I really have time and I really want to hear your story, Jace. But before that, I really want to do that.” Alec’s eyes were fixed on his and again, without thinking, Jace leaned in, closing the small gap between them. When their lips met, Jace felt the last walls around his heart fall. And he didn’t mind. He parted willingly his lips to let the older boy enter, he sucked lightly at Alec’s bottom lip to taste the other properly, to feel the other for real. For the very first time in his life, Jace truly felt at ease with his life. He knew he was where he was supposed to be, where he belonged to. Finally, after all those years, he was home.


End file.
